# 38 June 9th 2013 Revelation part 38
Chapter 20
In chapter 19 we saw… the victory of the armies of heaven over the armies of the earth.
We saw where Jesus Christ returns with the saints and the angels establishing His kingdom on earth.
We also saw where the antichrist and false prophet cast into the lake of fire…
And we saw where the armies of the kings of the earth completely destroyed their bodies eaten by birds…
And their souls sent to Hades.
In the 20th chapter we will be talking about the Millennium.
The word Millennium comes from the Latin word that means 1000.
In the first nine verses of this chapter 1000 years is repeated 6 times.
For it to be repeated and emphasized 6 times means it is important.
The opening verses of chapter 20 describe what is to precede the Millennium.
Verse 1…Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and great chain in his
hand.
The words then I saw are used over 30 times in the book of Revelation again this refers to John being an eyewitness of
the event.
Notice John says he saw an angel coming down from heaven.
He did not see Jesus or a mighty angel he simply saw an angel or we might say an ordinary angel.
The angel had two things with him…
One: The key to the bottomless pit or the abyss...important to see that this is not the lake of fire.
The bottomless pit is the place demons are incarcerated pending their final sentencing to the lake of fire.
It is place so horrific that the demons of Matt. 8 begged to be cast into a herd of swine rather than be sent there.
The key speaks of authority.
The second thing the angel had was…
A great chain…this speaks of restraint or imprisonment and binding.
The purpose of the key and the great chain was to bind the devil to keep him from deceiving the nations until the 1000
years were ended.
The key and the great chain given to the angel means…
Lord Jesus Christ has given the angel power over the devil to perform the task he was given to do.
Verse 2…He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the devil and satan, and bound him for 1000 years.
Now with the antichrist and the false prophet cast into the lake of fire satan is about to be dealt with.
Satan at this point is weakened and his power is restrained.
The imprisonment of satan will dramatically alter the world as all evil influence will be removed for a 1000 years.
Satan’s power is reduced as an ordinary angel becomes his jailer and leads him away captive.
Notice God did not send Gabriel or Michael to do the job He sent an ordinary unnamed angel to bind satan.
What made the ordinary angel extraordinary was obedience to the command of God.
With the angel’s obedience and the Lord’s resources satan was bound.
When we see satan from a heavenly perspective we will say is this the one who troubled the entire world?
In verse 2 John identifies the one wrapped in the great chain by four names…
Dragon…serpent…devil and satan.
Dragon speaks of ferocity…
Serpent speaks of deception or tempter…
Devil means accuser…
Satan means adversary.
Verse 3…And he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive
the nations no more until the 1000 years were finished.
This verse makes us think back to when Jesus was crucified and what satan tried to do to Jesus…
He tried to seal Jesus in a tomb but Jesus did not stay there and now the tables are turned.
The seal indicates God’s authority and guarantee that satan will not be released until a 1000 years have passed.
During the 1000 years or millennium satan will not be able to tempt or deceive.
Jesus Christ for that 1000 years will reign on earth without opposition and His kingdom will be characterized
by…
Righteousness, peace, and love.
This explains how the wolf will lie down by the lamb.
The millennium will be a fantastic time of unparalleled peace and total prosperity because satan will not be on the scene.
Verse 3 continues and says…
But after these things he must be released for a little while.
Why would God set him free?
A couple reasons for his release…
One: Satan will be released so God can make a permanent end of sin before establishing the new heaven and the new
earth.
Two: God still has a job for satan to do that is why satan was cast into the bottomless pit and not the lake of fire.
We will see what that job is later on in this chapter.
Verse 4…And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of
those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the Word of God who had not worshipped the beast or
his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ
for a 1000 years.
Beheaded for their witness refers to all those who refused to take the mark of the beast and lost their lives.
Christians from all generations will live here on this earth during the millennium and will rule and reign with Jesus
Christ.
We will not be equal to Christ just reigning with Christ.
Verse 5…But the rest of the dead did not live again until the 1000 years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
Verse 6…Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but
they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a 1000 years.
Scripture teaches of two kinds of resurrections…
The resurrection of life…
The resurrection of condemnation.
The first kind of resurrection is described as the resurrection of the just in Luke 14:14…
The resurrection of those who are Christ’s at His coming in 1rst Cor. 15:23.
The first resurrection includes only the redeemed of the church age, the O.T. and the tribulation.
The second kind of resurrection will be the resurrection of the unconverted.
But we also see in verse 6 a second death.
The first death is a physical death unless Jesus comes for us we all face a time of death.
The second death is for those who are damned eternally.
As a Christian we do not have to face a second death.
As a Christian we are born twice and die once.
An unbeliever is born once and dies twice.
A physical death and a eternal death.
The second death is punishment in the lake of fire.
Verse 7…Now when the 1000 years have expired, satan will be released from his prison.
We saw back in verse 3 that God has a job for satan to do before He casts him into the lake of fire.
In verse 8…We see what that job is.
And satan will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth. Gog and Magog to gather them
together to battle who number is as the sand of the sea.
During the 1000 years the earth’s population will explode as war, disease, famine and pestilence are eliminated.
The millennium will be the time of the earth’s greatest population explosion.
Plenty of food, a time of peace everything a person needs is supplied.
No headaches no worries…
So that eliminates all excuses for not having romance as well as eliminates all ailments that hinder romance.
That is what the words whose number is as the sand of the sea.
The problem with this population explosion is those born in the millennium their true character will not have
been tested.
It is like a person saying I grew up in the church and went every Sunday.
Just because a person grows up going to church and church is in their blood does not reveal their true character.
During the millennium there will be billions born and could say the same thing.
Hey man I was born and grew up in the millennium.
This means they grew up without a choice.
They were born into and grew up in enforced righteousness because they had no other choice.
They did not have an opportunity to decide for themselves whether or not they would follow the Lord.
Those with Christ going into the millennium…
Chose to be chosen…
They selected to be elected.
Here what we see is those born during the millennium given a choice.
Why?
The reason is God is love and love requires a choice.
If they had no choice their following God would not be based on love but on the absence of choice.
This shows us…A perfect environment cannot produce a perfect heart.
Satan is released to give those born during the millennium a choice and to reveal their true character.
When those born during the millennium are given a choice some will rebel against God.
They will be tired of enforced righteousness and will want to be free.
Many will turn their backs on God and will go after what satan offers.
They will become an army of rebels.
The word Gog and Magog is a name given to this army of rebels and its leader at the end of the millennium.
Gog and Magog were names of ancient enemies of the Lord.
Verse 9…They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city.
Those who choose satan over God and formed a great army will rebel against the saints and the city of Jerusalem or the
beloved city which will be the capital of the earth.
They will come against Jesus and the saints and right when the devil thinks he has won…
Verse 9…And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them.
God deals with this quickly and efficiently as fire devours them all.
Verse 10…The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false
prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
Here for the last time satan has deceived the world.
But it is the first time he deceived the world directly and not by someone or something possessed by his spirit.
The devil is cast into the lake of fire where the beast and the false prophet have been for 1000 years.
They will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
Tormented means a continuous unrelieved state.
This torment is for satan, antichrist false prophet, fallen angels and all the unredeemed.
In addition to hell being called a lake of fire it is also called a place of outer darkness meaning…
It is so dark even the flames of the lake of fire do not shed any light.
Verse 11…
And I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away, and there
was found no place for them.
For all of us who are Christians and have given our lives to Jesus Christ this does not apply to us.
We were judged when Jesus was on another throne…a wooden cross.
When He was wearing a crown made of thorns.
But for all those who do not accept Jesus Christ this applies.
This is speaking of judgment day.
Important to not confuse the white throne judgment with the Judgment seat of Christ where believers have their works
judged and rewarded.
At this judgment there will only be unbelievers and no rewards.
John now describes the terrifying scene set before him.
He sees the Judge who is seated on His throne of judgment and all the accused standing before Him.
There is no singing or praising or rejoicing…
Only judgment.
Every verdict will be righteous and just.
This judgment will take place between the end of the present universe and the creation of the new heaven and new earth.
Matter fact the way the Scripture reads is while the judgment is going on the earth and heaven flee away…
Meaning there will be no place to hide all must face the Judge.
Verse 12… And I saw the dead, small and great standing before God.
Death will give up bodies and hades will give up the spirits even the sea will give up its dead.
No sinner will escape.
And books were opened. And another book was opened which is the Book of Life and the dead were judged according
to their works by the things that were written in the books.
Notice it says books…
What books? There are three of them.
The Word of God and what the Word said verses how a person lived.
Every unbeliever will have to give an account for the truth they have heard.
A book that contains the works of sinners.
This book will be used to determine the degree of punishment they will endure in hell.
The Book of Life will be another book and the unsaved will not find their name in it.
The white throne judgment will be nothing like our modern courts.
At the white throne judgment…
There will be a judge but no jury…
There will be a prosecutor but no defense…
There will be a sentence but no appeal.
What is in the books provide the evidence for eternal condemnation.
Verse 14…Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
Verse 15…And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was into the lake of fire.
It is very easy to avoid this judgment and get your name in the Book of Life.
Romans 10 verse 9 tells us how.
If we confess with our mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in our heart that God raised Him from the dead you shall be
saved.